Here is the opening to my Friday column about JaMarcus Russell and his attempt at a comeback:

This is either the saddest story or the happiest story ever told. No one knows yet. No one knows until there’s an ending. And the ending hasn’t happened.

It is the JaMarcus Russell Story, the story of his comeback, to be precise. If there is a comeback. He is 27 years old, and hasn’t played in the NFL since the 2009 season when he was the worst starting quarterback in the league.

I think the TEST Acadamy makes a pretty good buck off rich losers like JaMarcus. I don’t think we’ll see him back in the NFL, unless some desperate and misguided team (such as Al Davis’s version of the Raiders) takes a chance on him.

I can relate to someone who “made it” and stopped trying. I did that professionally for a few years and it led to depression and feeling really small. Nothing I’ve done has felt quite so sweet as my comeback — when I decided to reapply myself and “re-learn” how to work hard. I assume Jamarcus felt somewhat like I did… and I know that whether he succeeds or not, he’s got to be more energized and optimistic now than he’s been in years. Good for him. My human side is rooting for him. The side that watched him play… yeah he’ll probably fail.

The Raiders for the first couple of years didn’t allow any real interviews with him..not with cameras at least. And when they did? I saw a man who never smiled,never told a joke,and was sensitive to the howling criticisms. Some players can over come injuries to be players again,but Russell has an injured soul. They don’t mend so easy.

Radnich “KNBR is the Angry white male sports hosts station” a few moments ago.
Kreuger about 2005 “I brought it on myself”
Lincecum a few days a go “I lost weight” etc,etc.
Russell,Huff,Bean,Ellis and ESPN…so much more.

And,Stan’s life posting has not been a waste. The written words of truth carry power.

If there’s a league where a quarterback throwing 70 yards from his
knees equals winning, this guy will be a rousing success.

In college, Russell thrived on the backs of his 3 world-class receivers,
better receivers than he ever had with the Raiders, and a great fullback
to dump off to on the rare occasion when the receivers were covered.
And still, LSU didn’t win the BCS championship until the year after JMR left.

And what ended up being Al Davis’ $38,000,000 screw-up was
compounded by the fact that the guy taken right after Russell in the
2007 draft was WR Calvin Johnson (Megatron), who, in 2012, broke Jerry
Rice’s single season receiving yardage record.

‘And you remember he was nice. He really was. You always liked him because he was so easy to like.’
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And so easy to belittle, apparently.
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I mean…you were the first one I read that called him JaBustus, Lowell.
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I’m just saying…
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~ALOHA~

Tiburon Dave’s comment is petty…..its totally petty to trash a guy who was physically ill and old that led to many poor seasons in Oakland……whatever AL Davis did to you Dave I’m sure he’s sorry…….and Al Davis’s failings started way before Gruden or JaMarcus……they began back in 1984 when he signed QB Marc Wilson to a mulit million dollar contract. The guy never completed more than 50% of his passes and was out of the league a few years later.

Al Davis didn’t do anything to me and I don’t take any of this personally..

That said…any successful leader will tell you their most important job is to surround themselves with people skilled enough to tell them when they’re wrong…their second most important job is to simultaneously groom a successor and recognize when it’s time to go…

I believe Mr. Davis failed at both of these jobs going back to the Gruden debacle…if you want to take it back to Marc Wilson…that’s up to you…

Bottom line…a once perennially successful organization has been a laughingstock for the past 10 plus years…

Symptoms of that laughingstock have been the drafting and paying of Mr. Russell and Mr. McClain…all of that can be laid at Mr. Davis’s feet…

MAYBE Reggie et al can work wonders to resurrect this franchise…but everyone knows how it got here…

Russell has a major character flaw, he does not care. In his twilight years Al Davis went from a maverick with a clear eye and identifiable purpose to the dumbest SOB to ever leave Brooklyn. He refused to acknowlede the game had changed, character matters and the opinions of others were worth considering. Instead he reveled in a carefully cultivated bad boys image, losing site of the fact that the players he surrounded himself with while obtaining that image were skilled, intelligent and highly coachable. I only hope his son allows the pros he has brought in to fix the old man’s mess enough time in which to succeed. Oakland, the town Gertrude Stein said of ” There;s no there there” deserves a fair shot at redmption

On the other hand,Russell only hurt himself. He’s not Perrish Cox,Ray Lewis or Angel Villalon. And talk about throwing it all away..the Bladerunner guy.
Like Charlie Browns Christmas tree,Russel from certain angles isn’t such a bad guy after all..